When tomorrow comes
by wanderingsmith
Summary: S/W, implied S/J - the way 4x02: Lifelines should have been followed!


Summary: the way lifelines should have been followed!  
Spoilers: Up to 4x02: Lifelines  
Rating: PG13  
Beta: comanche rider  
Disclaimer: I ain't got no money, and nobody'd be daft enough to pay me for this.

AN: _well, this was the original for momm2five, but then that gift got side tracked.. and then I remembered anuna81 was coming back and thought, hey! welcome back fic.. but then this got huge and ended up late... so: Now I know I was talking to someone about an idea like this, only with John (and eyecandy connotations..XD).. but this appeared in my head.._

_many many thanks to chiarahhue for her late night help!!_

John stared out over the control room, as aware of the unnatural silence of the people scurrying around repairing their damaged city as he was of the gripping pain that was his constant friend now.

Wherever he walked there were either angry, betrayed glares, or pitying stares. He knew that everyone was assuming things. Assuming that he'd lost a lover. Had abandoned a lover. Some of them just didn't understand that the word didn't have to imply a physical relationship to break a heart. Didn't understand that sometimes not leaving someone was a betrayal, too.

If he wasn't so tired -of everything-, he'd probably be angry at the implied smearing of her reputation. But when he finally managed to drop off at night, through the pain that seemed to know when he was alone, when he no longer had to keep a stoic face for his people, then the nightmares attacked. Once he managed to wake up, he didn't bother fighting; took out his tablet and worked instead. Through the tired, blurred vision or the tears; through the memories and their agony.

Through the loneliness he would never have believed he could feel so harshly.

He shifted his bleak stare back to the personnel evaluation in front of him. Sooner or later the IOA would either request them, or send the new expedition leader over, and then whoever the hell that turned out to be would request them. He hated them. The evaluations. The IOA. Even the expedition sometimes; as much as that added to the guilt eating him.

The temptation to leave Atlantis in Teyla and Rodney's hands and just quit, take a pack and weapons and go hunt on his own for any trace of Elizabeth, was as constant as the pain of having lost her. But he couldn't bring himself to betraying her faith in him. He knew damned well she would expect him to be responsible and take care of their people. No matter what the cost to him was. She'd stood by him, rescued him, waited for him. She trusted him to be equally dedicated to the city as she had been. Well, another hour or another 10 thousand years didn't seem much different to him right now. Another personnel file. Another argument settled. Another day survived.

But he hated it.

Every now and then he felt Atlantis's awareness touch his thoughts, like a small child petting an adult behaving strangely. It knew something was very wrong, but his thoughts on the matter weren't anything like orderly, so there was no chance for it to understand; it kept trying though. If he'd felt stronger, he might have tried to talk to it through the chair... but he could hardly face breathing these days, let along actually concentrating on the pain the way he'd have to to get through to the overgrown Ancient computer.

Then on its next pass, as he switched to reviewing Rodney's reports, its 'tone' changed and John's eyes rose, frowning as he automatically tried to catch the wisp of strangeness. Was that.. joy? Since when did the city have human emotions? And why, of all things, was it bloody well happy? Damn Ancients.

And then the air besides him suddenly 'changed' -there was no other word for it-, movement, of air, of light, and when John's eyes refocused... He froze in shock.

"Ha!" He watched in amazement as a fist punched the floor and a heartbreakingly familiar voice muttered, "Got you, you damn weaselling, cowardly ascended basta-" By then his mind had kicked his shaky body into movement and he was pulling his jacket off, grinning completely madly and dropping off the edge of Elizabeth's chair to kneel beside her slowly rising naked - Atlantis was slamming the door and darkening the glass before he even completed the thought - very alive body!

The joy and mind-blowing relief flying through him didn't leave any care about how or why she had come to be laying on the floor besides him. All he wanted -NEEDED- was the woman getting to her knees in nothing but her gorgeous, healthily glowing skin; still grumbling under her breath. As he draped his jacket over her bare shoulders, she turned her head toward him, smiling in triumph, eyes meeting his with unalloyed joy.

And then he burrowed his fingers into her wild hair and held her as he bent his head, still grinning happily, without a word and kissed her. As deep and passionately as he'd ever, in 3 years at her side, dreamed. Folding himself back to sit on his heels as she more than willingly opened her mouth and then wrapped her arms around his neck tightly, moving unhesitatingly to rest her warm, soft weight on his uniform-clad self; legs on either sides of his thighs and sitting on his lap. Warm heaven burning the pain away.

Clumsy from the smiling and laughter shaking them both. From the pounding hearts and rampaging emotions shaking them both; they almost toppled sideways before he stiffened and caught their weight, long enough for her to get her legs firmly around his waist, his hands resisting the temptation to explore the warm, smooth, bare -..- flesh in his arms and wrapped around him, instead just holding the lapels of his jacket at her neck to keep her warm. Without thought letting her take over the course of events and simply providing the muscle. She was alive! In his arms and moaning as the laughter disappeared and he bit gently at her bottom lip, arousing the freshly wakened nerves with a swipe of his tongue until her fingers sifted into the hair at the back of his head and she shifted their faces to kiss him.

By moments, he could feel the elation bubbling up through him; but mostly he was utterly concentrated on the soft, moist lips drawing on his. Returning the favour and feeling her tongue take advantage of his open mouth to explore. His turn to moan now, unaware that he'd tightened his hands until she drew them away from her neck to rest them on the skin of her waist, never breaking the kiss. Taking that as full permission, he pulled her body tight to his as he insistently took his turn claiming her mouth as his, rising arousal making his body tight in an entirely different way than the pain had.

One hand rose to her shoulder blades, pressing her soft breasts hard against him, no longer thinking of the jacket as it fell to the floor, instead feeling her shudder and tighten her hands in his hair. She shifted her hips, grinding against his crotch, her lips shifting to trail along his jaw as he gasped and stroked his hands along her sides with heavy pressure. He felt her lips move as she mumbled on his skin while he let himself just enjoy it -God! she was ALIVE!-, "Wait.. John! What are you-"

Hey! Not the deal.. He turned to kiss the words away sternly, then brought a hand up to tilt her head to take his turn nibbling at pale skin, eyes open and taking in every inch of offered flesh, her hands still stroking through the hair at the back of his head. His words were distracted, merely stating unquestionable fact; "I'm collecting payment for being a good boy and obeying your orders. Even when it meant leaving you behind!" She gasped next to his exploring mouth as his other hand slid down to massage a butt cheek, "We are not going back to the status quo, Elizabeth," he pulled back to frown at her stubbornly, not sure how to interpret the smile forming on her lips, "We are not wasting another instant of this second chance."

The thumb she brought around to stroke his lip before she lifted herself up and kissed him gently didn't feel like an argument. Felt like the sweetest encouragement he could be given to posses the woman he'd thought he'd lost. The lover he'd only ever held in his heart; never in his arms.

"We should take care of a little business first though." As much as he wanted to ignore the words, the achingly familiar, gently scolding tone pulled a well-learned, teasing, whining response from him. That elation even stronger with every bit of returning familiarity.

"Do we have to?" He started to kiss his way down her neck, to her shoulder, nibbling at the smooth muscle, grinning and suckling when it jumped under his touch.

"John Sheppard-" her voice caught on a moan, "We are in my office; on the floor!"

"You can be on top," he lifted his head and kissed the corner of her lips before pulling back slightly to grin into her attempt at a stern expression, "I'll take the carpet burns."

She shook her head, very obviously trying to restrain a smile, "Or. You can get me some clothes and we can go to your quarters..."

He sighed exaggeratedly, "Oh, okaaay." He tapped his earpiece, catching his breath as she rewarded him by nibbling his free earlobe, "Teyla?"

Teyla lifted her gaze from her dinner plate, brows rising in shock at the joyous laughter in her previously mourning friend's voice, "John?"

"Listen, you remember those stories about Dr. Daniel Jackson of SG1?"

She blinked, confused but bringing up the memory of the bespectacled archaeologist, trying to link it with John suddenly alive again... Daniel Jackson... had ascended and returned! Her voice was breathless with disbelief as she rose from her chair, starting to smile widely, "Yes. Of course...?"

"Right. So, can you go to Elizabeth's quarters and bring some of her clothes to her office?"

"I am on my way. And John? Tell her it is very good to have her back." She wanted to laugh out loud at the joy of her friend's return. And the joy in John's voice. Instead she hurried to do as requested.. remembering other details of descending she'd heard laughed about and wondering with a grin what had led up to her being contacted...

"She says to tell you it's good to have you back. She's probably just glad she won't have to deal with my moping anymore."

Elizabeth's eyes rose to his, hearing a heavy trace of truth in the casual words. Seeing bleakness momentarily flash there. She shivered as the chill of the room penetrated now that they were coming down from the spiralling pleasure. While she'd fought to get back here... she'd never once expected this to be her homecoming.

The discouragement and anger she'd felt before she was injured was long gone under the onslaught of unashamed, unhidden affection. The distance, loss, fear and sadness from waking up swarming with nanites was becoming nothing but another unpleasant memory. Resting her head down on John's shoulder, she felt the kind of comfort she'd yearned for even more than the reassurance and strength he'd always given freely. Though the touch of his hands smoothing over her bare skin was somewhat unsettling with the glass walls of her office around them... but all things considered, the chill was more of a disturbance than warm hands.

"Here," John shifted her away from him slightly and pulled his shirt out of his pants and over his head with one powerful tug as she watched with interest -interest she was allowed to show now, ummm...-; then he hinted with raised brows that she raise her arms, dropping the stiff black cotton into place for her.

When her head popped through the neck, she was smiling, couldn't resist pulling the lapels to her nose in the classic detergent commercial pose; watching John actually laugh was just extra reward. The warmth from his body still permeated the shirt that went to mid-thigh on her, making her feel much less exposed. And warm. And surrounded with John. Even more so when he tugged her close again and she went back to resting on him, her cheek on his now merely T-shirt-clad shoulder.

One of her hands smoothed idly over his chest, tracing the muscles flexing as he held her while bending to reach the fallen jacket to cover her with that too. As his arms came to rest loosely around her waist, she could feel his body relaxing. Only then realizing how tense he'd been; for that matter, how tense she'd been. Her making it here should have settled them on its own.. but at a wild guess, jumping into making love probably hadn't really helped them take stock of the situation.

Now she could feel him lazily nuzzling the top of her head as she closed her eyes and just listened to John breathe. It wasn't a reception she'd expected.. it was beyond anything she'd allowed herself to wish for. Warmer, safer.. more love and affection than she could ever remember feeling, from or for anyone. She couldn't imagine being anything but dreadfully uncomfortable appearing naked in a room with.. almost anyone. In a relationship, in their quarters, yes, fine. In a.. romantic moment.. she grinned unseen into John's shoulder, remembering daydreams whose visions had driven her to distraction at times. And thinking that she suspected John would have no reservations at all to fulfilling them...

Before she could complete the thought, she heard a tinny voice from John's earpiece and lifted her head to look at him as he answered, smiling softly for her.

"Thanks Teyla, just give me a minute and I'll come open the door." He gave Elizabeth a quick buss on the lips before helping her up with hands at her hips and then rising himself. "If you sit at your desk," he nodded at the shirt she was wearing, "It won't be.."

She grinned at his trailing off words and chagrined look, "So obvious that I'm naked?"

He shrugged, then teasingly leered down her bare legs below the hem of the shirt.. not to mention the high-cut side where she could feel the chill reaching the cheeks of her butt. She shook her head and chuckled at his playing as she walked to the desk; then at the last second pinched his nice, tight bum as he headed for the door. Breaking out in giggles as he bounced and landed facing her while backing to the door and shaking a threatening finger at her as he smirked evilly. He still waited for her to sit down before opening the door though; and still stood in it to block most of the view into the room from the rest of the world.

Teyla handed him the neatly folded clothes she'd carried shielded by her tablet, giving Elizabeth a silent nod and smile in deference to the people working nearby. Then at the last second before turning to walk away, she rose on tiptoe and kissed John's cheek, whispering into his surprised expression, "It is good to see you happy, my friend."

Elizabeth lifted a brow at his abashed expression as the door reclosed and he brought her the clothes.

He shrugged, "Told you she didn't like my moping." He watched as she got up and went through what Teyla had brought. "You wouldn't let me watch.. would you?" He was obviously trying to be casual, but he couldn't hide the wistful note in the question.

Elizabeth blinked at him in surprise, "Watch me dress?"

"Yeah. Then I'd know this was real," he grinned unconvincingly, his eyes too dark and still for the humour to exist. "You never get dressed in my dreams..."

Elizabeth bit her lip, walking around the desk to where he watched her, "Come here."

He leaned back on the edge of the Ancient table and she came to stand in front of him, his arms immediately circling her waist as she rested her hands on his neck, taking the time to really look at him. At the pale skin, and the exhaustion bruising his eyes, "How long was I gone?"

He answered quietly, still giving her a small quirk of a smile, "4 days."

She shook her head and gave him a sadly reproving look, "If I went 4 days without sleeping, what would you say to me?"

He grinned softly into her caring eyes without answering.

She nodded wryly, "Just so." Kissing the corner of his mouth and planning to take very good care of him, she reached besides him for the underwear she'd pulled out.

Since he'd been invited, John stayed where he was and watched, feeling his world realigning itself; life even taking on meaning like never before. Much as he wanted to just enjoy the intimacy -and her body- and pretend the world away... they were going to have to face their people, which meant they had to talk. "So what happened?"

She looked at him briefly to confirm what he was asking before reaching for her slacks with a shrug, "Once I knew you'd gotten away, I... concentrated every damned nanite I had on everything I'd ever heard about ascending and... did. And then I went out of my way to make a complete pest of myself so those damned wishy-washying Ancients couldn't stand to keep me up there.. and here I am." She straightened, smiling with remembered pleasure at her victory, still wearing his shirt, now tucked into her pants and with shoes on her feet, "Ready to face the world."

His voice was rusty with memories as he straightened to stand in front of her, "As always, Doctor Weir." Meeting her bright eyes, he hesitated, his movements stuttery as he reached for his tags, "I... I don't suppose that this is the right way, time or place but," He looked into her eyes, not surprised to see the knowledge there; she always could read him too well. He offered her the tags, all he had of himself to give right then -and feeling a demanding need to establish some concrete connection right then-, "Will you marry me? I know you deser-"

She interrupted simply, with a finger across his lips, a loving smile stretching hers as she firmly grabbed the metal out of his hand, "Yes."

The lights suddenly brightened and started to shimmer joyfully, pulling their attention away from each other. John shook his head with confusion, "It's been doing odd things since.. Anyway. It feels like it's celebrating. Or congratulating us.. or somethi-" He was interrupted by the door opening as the glass re-polarized to clear.

Elizabeth put the tags around her neck with a confident grin, "I'd say it wants us to face the music, colonel." When he nodded wryly, she headed for the cluster of technicians who'd been staring at the door to her sanctum, feeling John fall into place at her side and the lights return to normal. Life return to an even better normal.

As everyone congregated around them in the control room, John asked for a citywide channel. "Attention everybody, I have some good news. Elizabeth is back!" He paused as the gateroom broke out in cheering, and more cheering could be heard through walls and doors; grinned at Elizabeth, standing besides him looking suddenly, uncharacteristically, emotional, then he looked down at his tags around her neck with a questioning brow. When she nodded affirmation, he leaned over and kissed a tear trailing down her cheek, aware that the action had silenced the room like a knife, sliding his arm possessively around her waist, "However, as soon as Teyla can make her way up here, she'll be Dr. Elizabeth Sheppard."

"Oh really?" Elizabeth grinned, recovering from the momentary burst of tearfulness. Taking advantage of the block of computers at their back, and in the guise of putting her arm around his waist, she stroked her fingers with deliberateness across his ass, speaking so her voice carried to his mic, "I was thinking I rather liked the sound of Colonel John Weir."

As people doubled-over, howling with laughter, John looked at her with slightly glazed eyes and stuttered huskily, "Sure. Why not. John Weir, uh?"

A few hours later, Ronon had been dispatched to John's quarters to hunt for a months-ago found ring and Teyla had performed the Athosian bonding ceremony. The room was filled to bursting with everyone celebrating when the gate started dialling.

"Shit! Clear the ramp! Guard squad, lets see some weapons out there!" John turned to Elizabeth with a grim look, feeling his stubbornness rise to fight the automatically anticipated attack, "With our luck, you want to bet that's the SGC?"

She smiled wryly, gripping his hand tightly before letting go and stepping away slightly, "Not really."

"Chevron 8 locked!"

They rolled their eyes.

Elizabeth straightened her- John's shirt, taking reassurance from that very fact, "Open a channel, Chuck."

John gave her a wry grin, "Make that a video channel." He raised a brow, "Thousand words and all?"

She nodded and stepped behind him, waiting for her moment as the room stood silently watching. Protectively watching.

"Generals! What a pleasant surprise!" Both O'Neill and Landry raised brows at the completely uncharacteristic, cheerful greeting, having expected the same downright grim man they'd spoken to a few days ago. "You'll never guess who decided to drop in!"

Elizabeth took her cue and stepped into camera range, nodding at the further surprised men. "Generals."

"Doctor.." O'Neill's attention seemed to suddenly fix on her left hand before rising to the grinning colonel next to her, "Dr. Sheppard, I presume?"

John smirked, slipping an arm around Elizabeth's waist, "Actually sir, the last orders I heard were Colonel Weir."

Off-screen at the SGC a woman started laughing and O'Neill wagged his finger to his left, "Don't even think about it!!"

Landry's head swung between the two sources of entertainment, wearing a dry grin, "I'm not sure who to congratulate first. Dare I assume, Colonel.. Weir is it? That you and your wife had the prerequisite doctor's visit before the happy event?"

John rolled his eyes, "She de-ascended right next to me sir."

Colonel Carter peeked into the camera angle, exchanging a nod with Landry and still being glared at by the man Elizabeth now suspected of being her husband. "Before I go unpack the bags I was just going to take to Atlantis, may I add my congratulations? And say I'm damned glad to see you again, doctor?"

Elizabeth grinned in wry acknowledgement, guessing the assignment hadn't been appreciated, "Thank you colonel, I take it congratulations are also in order for you?"

Sam grinned just as wryly, giving Jack a 'look', "Since he let the cat out of the bag, yes. How did you get," she nodded at John, "Him to, ahhh 'agree'?"

Elizabeth smirked, resisting the temptation to pinch her husband again, planning instead the shortest route to their quarters, "Caught him in a.. weak moment."

She watched the blond colonel give O'Neill a wicked once-over and mumble, "I think I can arrange one of those..."


End file.
